50th Anniversary of the Sydney Opera House

[offmenu]

I do hope I’m allowed to post this (please remove if not) but I haven’t seen any discussion about the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Sydney Opera House, which has been commemorated (in song) by Tim Minchin:

 

https://youtu.be/QshKJQQyCAE?si=RIlkadz2GiO7pn0l

 

I found it a really powerful statement - amongst others - the value of the arts (dance/ballet included) and its role in representing, shaping, and celebrating our society. Also it’s just good fun. Enjoy!  

[capybara]

Thank you @offmenu My guess is that, for many of us on this Forum, the magnificent Sydney Opera House is more on our geographical radar than our balletic/artistic one; but the content of that song is timely wherever we are.

[Emeralds]

Had a wonderful experience visiting Sydney Opera House during a rare treat of a holiday to Australia in 2001 and saw the  Australian Ballet with the Opera Australia chorus and their Orchestra performing a production of Orff's Carmina Burana set to dance- not dramatised like David Bintley's version but more abstract in the style of John Neumeier. 

 

I'm afraid I don't remember the choreographer as there was a lot of new and delightful sights, sounds and smells to take in on that trip and the souvenir programme got lost while moving house! We did the tourist thing of taking pictures on the steps and next to the water! I think it was a young Australian choreographer. We thought that the choreography, while very lovely, didn’t really have any big highlights or - thankfully- negatives, so that might have been why I forgot who it was. My fault for not remembering rather than the choreographer's. 

 

The performances were excellent- no big names that I recognised at the time, though no doubt many dancers from that ensemble have now become prominent stars whose names are instantly familiar. It was a really enjoyable evening of great music, great singing, great dancing. We also enjoyed a fantastic dinner (great cuisine, service and ambience) at a beautiful nearby restaurant named, appropriately, Aria. Fun times! Would love to go back. 🙂

Edited October 24, 2023 by Emeralds

[Ondine]

8 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Australian Ballet with the Opera Australia chorus and their Orchestra performing a production of Orff's Carmina Burana set to dance

 

This?

https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/ballet-steps-out-with-a-new-partner-20010525-j86lg

 

[Emeralds]

12 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 

This?

https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/ballet-steps-out-with-a-new-partner-20010525-j86lg

 

Thank you, Ondine, for finding it- yes, that was it, and I see it premiered in Adelaide and they engaged the orchestra and chorus in Sydney rather than flying the Adelaide singers to Sydney! I know of Lindy Hume from her direction of operas, but the article also doesn't mention who the choreographer was- typical! Surely by late May the choreographer would already have almost finished choreographing with the dancers for a 23 May opening night so they should know who it (or they?) was/were.

[Ondine]

18 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

the article also doesn't mention who the choreographer was

 

"...resident choreographer Natalie Weir’s new interpretation of Carmina Burana seemed embraced by earth’s gravity. It was about struggle, and principal Nicole Rhodes, in a shocking red dress, was the token muse. In the shadows were hints of betrayal, as she sensually moved about the crowded stage filled with dancers and members of the State Opera Chorus and the Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus, trying to lure humanity out of complacency and quiet desperation. The result was near chaos, until the cast fused into a human wall at the front of the stage.

With each street-clothed man and woman giving his or her all, Carl Orff’s soulful score was a highlight. The singers at times were even more interesting than the dancers, whose short vignettes in the early part of the ballet were too reminiscent of the Jets’ street scenes from West Side Story, and didn’t mix with the sincerity and plainness of the rest of the cast. Dan Potra’s costumes threw plainness out the window, however, during the second act, when a line of dancers paraded down an elevated fashion runway in outrageously lavish outfits, à la Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It was each woman for herself, in a display that was wonderfully Australian: “O Fortuna” with individuality and flair."

 

May 2001

 

https://www.dancemagazine.com/austrailian-ballet/

 

 

[Emeralds]

Great detective work, @Ondine! Of course, Natalie Weir - 22 years later- is now an experienced choreographer and a big name in her own right: I know her work with various companies in Australia and internationally, and she's also made pieces for Royal Ballet School. Well, at least I got her nationality/background and age right! 😀 I  don't know if Nicole Rhodes danced the lead role on the night we went, although I knew who she was then. Funny description in the review....I don't remember the costumes being outrageously lavish, although I remember them looking quite nice....haha.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Emeralds

[Sophoife]

Natalie Weir was for some years listed as a Resident Choreographer of the Australian Ballet. Her 2001 Carmina Burana and Meryl Tankard's 2003 Wild Swans were the last main-stage pieces by female choreographers created for AusBallet until Alice Topp's emergence in IIRC 2015 with Little Atlas.

 

À propos the Sydney Opera House, I remember my mum taking me to see Gillian Lynne's Fool on the Hill, originally choreographed for television, at the SOH in 1976. Ross Stretton, Kelvin Coe, and Lucette Aldous.

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Sophoife
Added last paragraph